STUDENT PEN NAMES: Barracuda, Lionking, Cheetahboy
ASPIRE MENTORS: Matt Gilbert
OBSERVATIONS/DESCRIPTION: Black Bears, Lions and Cheetahs are some of our favourite animals. They all can run fast, yet they all run so differently.
QUESTION: How does the gait length of a black bear, lion and cheetah compare? Does the animal with the longest stride travel the fastest. How do the strides per second compare?
HYPOTHESIS: We think that the bear’s stride will be shorter than the Cheetah and the Lion because the bear has shorter legs relative to its size. It is also the heaviest animal. It will be the slowest animal. For the same reason we think that the Cheetah’s stride will be faster than the Lion. We think that the cheetah will have the longest relative stride per body length and frequency.
EXPERIMENT:
Find videos of a black bear, lion and cheetah where they are running in a straight line for at least four strides
1. Record animals number of strides per second in video
2. Measure the of body length (nose to base of tail) in video
3. Measure the stride length in video. Take a screen shot and place in keynote.
(command, shift 4)
4. Measure the inside angle of the stride in video
5. Calculate the speed in body lengths per sec. in video
a. Locate reference point (bush or other object)
b. Advance video as many frames as you can but make sure you can see the starting point and the end.
c. Measure length of the animal (base to nose)
d. Measure distance animal has traveled from reference point to base of tail.
e. Divide Distance traveled by body length.
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN:
The things we are going to try to keep constant in this study are:
Our independent or manipulated variable are the species of animals we observed and studied.
The dependent or responding variable are our measurements, stride/body length,
DATA:
| Lion Running Video | Galloping Bear Video | Cheetahs on the Edge — Director's Cut |
|---|---|---|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUW67ZUrdVM | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBjm3nTZaIs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THA_5cqAfCQ |
| Measurement in pts | Lion | Bear | Cheetah |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body length (nose to tail) | 310pt | 446pt | 470pt |
| Stride length | 393pt | 528pt | 761pt |
| Stride/BodyLength in pts | 1.27pt | 1.18pt | 1.62pt |
| Inside angle | 45˚ paw to shoulder | 42˚ paw to shoulder | 6l˚ elbow to shoulder / 13˚outstretched from elbow |
Table 1. This table shows the stride/body length in pts.
| Lion | Bear | Cheetah |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
| Table 2. Strides per second of the Lion | Table 3. Strides per second of the Bear | Table 4. Strides per second of the Cheetah |
| Lion | Bear | Cheetah |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
| Table 5. Lion's Speed in body lengths per second | Table 6. Bear's Speed in body lengths per second | Table 7. Cheetah's Speed in body lengths per second |
RESULTS:
| Stride/Body Length(Lion, Bear and Cheetah) | Stride/Body Length (Lion, Bear and Cheetah) |
|---|---|
 |  |
| Table 9 . The Cheetah has the greatest number of strides per body length. | Figure 1 . This graph shows the Cheetah as having the greatest number of strides per body length. |
| Stride/Sec (Lion, Bear and Cheetah) | Stride/Sec (Lion, Bear and Cheetah) |
|---|---|
 |  |
| Table 10. The Cheetah has the greatest number of strides per sec. | Figure 2 . This graph shows the Cheetah as having the greatest number of strides per sec. |
| Speed - Body Lengths/ Sec (Lion, Bear and Cheetah) | Speed - Body Lengths/ Sec (Lion, Bear and Cheetah) |
|---|---|
 |  |
| Table 11 . The Cheetah runs the greatest body lengths/sec. | Figure 12 . This graph shows the Cheetah as having the greatest number body lengths per sec. |
CONCLUSION: WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT? WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?
The purpose of this investigation was to look at the stride length of a black bear, lion and cheetah to see how they compare. We wondered if the animal with the longest stride traveled the fastest and how each animal’s strides per second compared. We thought that the bear’s stride will be shorter than the Cheetah and the Lion because the bear has shorter legs relative to its size. We reasoned because it was the heaviest animal, it will be the slowest animal. For the same reason we think that the Cheetah will be faster than the Lion. We think that the cheetah will have the longest relative stride per body length and the greatest frequency.
Our results supported our hypothesis. Our data clearly demonstrate that the bear has the shortest relative stride/ body length at 1.18pts and the cheetah has a relative stride length of 1.62 Body Lengths. The bear’s stride frequency was the lowest at 2.03 strides /sec and the Cheetah’s frequency was the highest at 3.88. strides /sec. Our calculations for body lengths / sec also determine that the bear was the slowest with 3.1 body lengths /sec and the Cheetah was the fastest at 12.63 body lengths per sec.
From our research the following information about cheetah supports our data/results. Other information that make’s a cheetah the fastest land animal on earth is also included.
IDEAS FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS?
If we were to do this experiment again I would have all of the animals going the same relative speed. We would also do the experiment using multiple videos. That way we collect more data and use averages to get more reliable results.